It’s amazing how tough the Heels have become. UNC has more holes than could be listed here. But, but, but….they keep winning games. And – here’s the truly amazing part – the games are much slower. Carolina has become content to move very deliberately around the court. Yet, they’re scoring in the high 80’s every night. The Heels miss Lawson’s 4-5 easy buckets. But, you know, Q has become a better on-ball defender than Ty. I was skeptical that Q could match Smith and Teague tonight. He did, though. The pick of Teague in the 1st half was a clear indication that Thomas was unafraid. Sure, there was lots of penetration. And Teague did convert some seriously sweet baskets. Even with that, it was not easy for Wake to get to the hole. The fact that almost every second half shot was contested (aside from a few Johnson buckets) is a great testament to UNC’s improved D. And all of that starts with Q.

Again, I was impressed with Guadio’s technical prep for the game. McFarland was able to bother Tyler quite a bit, but he couldn’t keep himself from doing some stupid things. Still, with all the emphasis on Hansbrough, Tyler finds a way. He’s a machine. I know his nickname is Psycho T. I like this one better – Terminator. He plays to kill you. He takes no prisoners. He’s just about indestructible. He keeps coming at you. Tyler The Terminator. That’s my new name for him.

There were tons and tons of rumors about Ty playing tonight. In fact, Roy said he was pointing to this game to get Ty back. I’m reading between the lines here, but I get the feeling that Lawson is a little scared to go full speed. He hasn’t practiced yet, so that’s not a good thing. He needs to practice this week (which looks a bit doubtful from Roy’s postgame remarks), and he needs to play about 10 minutes against BC on Saturday. If he doesn’t, it’s going to be a tough go if he doesn’t get himself in shape prior to the ACC tourney. Ty cannot play only a few minutes against FSU and then a few more against Duke and get his legs (and game) right. Assuming for a minute that UNC loses on Saturday in the ACC tourney, that would only give Lawson 4 games to play (if he doesn’t go against BC) prior to the NCAA tourney. You can slice this any of a million ways, but the bottom line is this: Those 4 or 5 games are not going to be enough to get him in shape. You figure the Heels will slide by their first round opponent one way or the other. The next game, though, is not a sure thing no matter who they play (even if it’s a 9 seed). That second round game will require the Heels to be going full throttle.

That’s down the road. Right now – all is moving nicely. 3 games, 3 more needed wins. Because of Duke’s slippage and Kansas sliding against OSU, I think if the Heels win out they’ll lock up a 1 seed by virtue of winning the league out-right, having the 4th toughest schedule in the country, playing in the toughest conference in the country and having a top 5 RPI. At this point, that’s all UNC should care about. Win 3 more games in a row and then seal the deal with a Friday win in Charlotte.